HR 4197
LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2025
Take action
Record your position on this measure.
Sign in to record your position, submit testimony, or contact your legislator.
Sign in to take action- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- To President
- Became Law
Bill overview
This bill prohibits the use of "panic defenses" in federal criminal cases that rely on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression as a justification for violent crimes. It aims to eliminate these defenses, which are seen as remnants of prejudice and historically used to excuse harm to LGBTQ individuals. The bill also requires the Attorney General to report annually on prosecutions involving LGBTQ victims and crimes motivated by their identity.
Key provisions
- Prohibits using sexual orientation or gender identity/expression as a defense for violent crimes.
- Adds a new section to Title 18 of the U.S. Code to explicitly ban panic defenses based on these factors.
- Allows evidence of prior trauma to be presented in court, separate from the prohibition on using sexual orientation or gender identity/expression as a defense.
- Requires the Attorney General to submit an annual report on federal prosecutions involving LGBTQ victims and crimes motivated by their identity.
Who is affected
- LGBTQ individuals
- Criminal defendants
- Federal prosecutors
- The Justice Department
- Victims of bias-motivated crimes
Notable changes
- Eliminates the possibility of using sexual orientation or gender identity/expression as a legal defense in criminal cases.
- Addresses a historical practice considered rooted in prejudice against LGBTQ individuals.
Sponsors
Official sponsors from legislative records.
Primary sponsor
Cosponsors
Arguments in favor
Reasons to support this legislation.
No arguments in favor have been submitted.
Submit yoursArguments opposed
Reasons to oppose this legislation.
No arguments opposed have been submitted.
Submit yoursRead the latest version inline or switch to a previous version.
119th CONGRESS — 1st Session
H. R. 4197
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit defenses based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
This Act may be cited as the LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Prohibition Act of 2025
.
Congress finds that—
the American Bar Association has urged the Federal Government to take legislative action to curtail the availability and effectiveness of the legal defenses that seek to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the sexual orientation or gender identity of the victim is provocation enough for the violent reaction of the defendant;
LGBTQ) individuals;
continued use of these anachronistic defenses reinforces and institutionalizes prejudice at the expense of norms of self-control, tolerance, and compassion, which the law should encourage, and marks an egregious lapse in the march of the United States toward a more just criminal justice system; and
Chapter 1 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
No nonviolent sexual advance or perception or belief, even if inaccurate, of the gender, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation of an individual may be used to excuse or justify the conduct of an individual or mitigate the severity of an offense.
Notwithstanding the prohibition in subsection (a), a court may admit evidence, in accordance with the Federal Rules of Evidence, of prior trauma to the defendant for the purpose of excusing or justifying the conduct of the defendant or mitigating the severity of an offense.
The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
The Attorney General shall submit to Congress an annual report that details prosecutions in Federal court involving capital and noncapital crimes committed against LGBTQ individuals that were motivated by the victim’s gender, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation.